


Define "Divided"

by destroyedparadise234



Category: Avengers Academy (Video Game), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Civil War (Marvel), Fluff, Gen, M/M, Pre-Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, avac civil war compliant, can also be seen as frienship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-03
Updated: 2016-06-03
Packaged: 2018-07-11 23:52:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7075864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/destroyedparadise234/pseuds/destroyedparadise234
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Natasha was sure that either the definition of “divided” had been very different in the 1940s, or Steve just didn’t actually understand the meaning of the word at all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Define "Divided"

Natasha was sure that either the definition of “divided” had been _very_ different in the 1940s, or Steve just didn’t actually understand the meaning of the word at all.

She coughed loudly, raising an unimpressed eyebrow as Steve almost dropped the platter he was holding. She was sure that under normal circumstances, Steve’s super-enhanced hearing would have allowed him to notice her approach. Considering the fact that Steve looked like he was mentally preparing to diffuse a bomb right before Natasha arrived, however, she figured Steve wasn’t paying much attention to the outside world to begin with.

“I can explain.” Steve looked like he had been caught doing something illegal. His eyes were wide open, his free hand up by his head like he was waiting to be arrested. Natasha barely restrained herself from smacking Steve upside the head from the sheer _ridiculousness_ of this whole situation. But first, she wanted an explanation

Her eyes shifted from Tony’s unusually bare snack table, to the large platter of assorted cheeses Steve was holding up, before fixing him with a look that conveyed, _“Explain now, or I will hurt you with a cheese cube.”_  As Steve instantly placed the platter down before attempting to sputter out an excuse, Natasha was sure she got her message across.

“I—this isn’t what it looks like—you see, the thing is. Would you believe me if I told you I was stealing this?”

Steve positively shrank at how Natasha clenched her fists in response, bracing himself for a brawl in the middle of the dining hall of Team Iron Man’s camp. Then, she visibly slumped, crossed her arms, and gave Steve a look of such disappointment he actually winced.  

“The sad part is, you guys are both acting so absurd, I’d honestly believe that if I didn’t just pass by Peter whining about how he missed getting some of Stark’s cheese.”

The Iron Widow armor barely made a sound as Natasha made her way across the dining hall, no doubt a feature Tony made sure to include her armor’s design. It made her about Steve’s height—something that made her unnecessarily more intimidating, in Steve’s humble opinion. She paused in front of the cheese platter, and made a motion to push it off the table, when Steve yelped and threw himself in front of it.

“Waitwaitwait—I’ll tell you the truth! Jeez, just—please don’t hurt the cheese. It’s really expensive now. I mean, it was expensive back then, too, but now the prices are just pure bullsh— “

“Steve, you’re rambling again.”

Steve sighed, dragging a hand over his face, and Natasha saw the barest hint of a blush on Steve’s cheeks. Natasha highly doubted Steve had poisoned the food—she knew he was just being stupid, not downright evil. She had her suspicions about what was really going on. But, when Steve quietly mumbled out his response, way too low and fast for her to properly hear, she nearly hit him upside the head.

“I’m sorry, can you repeat that? Louder this time? Not all of us have super hearing.”

“I just,” Steve huffed before shaking his head and squaring his shoulders. He fought in a war. He could handle this.

“I overheard some of the students on Team Iron Man complaining that Stark’s infamous cheese supply had run out when he first started his camp, and I decided to…refill it myself from time to time…”

Steve was expecting Natasha to send another exasperated look his way, or even kick him out of the camp—he was acting like an idiot and he shouldn’t even have been there. He wasn’t expecting her to look blank for the first time during this whole encounter. He coughed into his fist when Natasha just continued to stare at him, the silence unnerving him, and before he knew it the words were tumbling out of his mouth against his will.

“It’s just, Stark loves his cheese so much and he loves sharing it, and it was just really strange that he wouldn’t make sure that his cheese supply hadn’t run out. And he’s too damn brilliant and so damn proud, he probably thinks he can handle creating a robot army while running a camp at the same time—on top of all his school work—without asking for any help, even for the small stuff.”

Natasha was about to interrupt Steve, but paused when she saw he was essentially lost in his rant. The corners of her mouth twitched upwards.

“Because God forbid anyone actually notices that beneath all the swagger and bravado, Tony’s absolutely exhausted—that anyone actually realizes how much work Tony’s been doing ever since he got to this academy. And with Hydra attacking now, even more work has been added to Tony’s plate. He’s just so _stubborn_ , he thinks he has to suffer through this all alone. He thinks he doesn’t deserve anyone’s help, and that’s complete crap because _we are a team_.

“And I know technically we’re divided right now—he’d probably kick me out if he saw me here—but that doesn’t mean I enjoy seeing him running himself ragged. Tony’s still my friend, and if doing something as small as occasionally re-stocking his cheese supply will help lighten his load, nothing in the world can stop me from doing that.”

The super-soldier’s cheeks were almost completely red by the time he was finished, his breath coming out in short pants as he attempted to collect himself. He jumped when he suddenly heard a loud squeal come from behind him, paling comically quickly when he turned around to see Jan and Loki standing by the entrance. Jan’s phone was pointed directly as Steve.

In an attempt to try to keep the small amount of dignity he had left, Steve muttered a quick, “So that’s that. I’ll just… get back to training the new recruits… good day to you all,” before walking out of the dining hall as fast as he could.

Once Steve had made his way out of the room, Jan squealed and launched herself in Natasha’s direction. She was practically vibrating from excitement. She stuck herself to Natasha’s side as she replayed the video of the part of Steve’s speech she was able to record.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen Steve so worked up before! Did you know Steve’s been doing this??” Natasha shook her head, still smiling; Jan’s excitement much too infectious for Natasha’s comfort.

“I just found out today when I caught him replacing the platter.” Natasha looked towards Loki, unsure if his eyes were a bit greener than usual, but she could see a ghost of a smile on Loki’s lips. She looked back at Jan and instantly swiped her phone away when she saw Jan was about to send Tony the video.

“Nat! It’s so cute. Tony would love to see— “

“He shouldn’t find out this way, though. I think he should find out directly from Steve.”

Jan pouted at that, but conceded the point. With how hot-headed the two of them were at the moment, things might somehow find a way get even worse between them. She agreed to hide the video for now, but felt relieved as she re-watched how sincerely and vehemently Steve still cared about Tony. And judging by the looks on Natasha and Loki’s faces, they were too.

~*~*~*~*~

“Hey, Steve, Pepper needs those reports on the progress of the new recruits _now_ — “ Natasha barged into the classroom in Steve’s camp, foregoing any type of formalities, but paused at the outbursts of the new S.H.I.E.L.D recruits in the room.

“The video’s running properly now, Mr. Stark!”

“Thank you so much, Mr. Stark. I thought I was going to go crazy if I had to watch those same 10 seconds repeat again.”

Natasha had to backtrack a few steps to make sure she was in the correct camp, as if old video reel of Captain America fighting Hydra wasn’t enough proof she was in the right place. Her eyebrows nearly flew up to her hairline, though, when she saw Tony emerge from behind the screen—looking all the world like he wasn’t in the camp of the person he’s currently fighting.

“Ugh, how many times do I have to tell you guys to call me ‘Tony’. Really, you’d think with the amount of times I’ve sneaked in and fixed this screen for you all— “

Tony froze when he spotted Natasha at the doorway, the screwdriver in his hand dropping loudly onto the floor. A dark flush made its way onto Tony’s face as he stammered out a quick, “W-wait, I can totally explain this!”

And Natasha couldn’t help but roll her eyes fondly, because they _both_ definitely knew the definition of the word ‘divided’.

They both just chose to ignore it.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello ^^ This is my first stevetony fanfic (and my first fanfic in over a year). Avac's Civil War was absolutely adorable, and I couldn't help but imagine Steve and Tony secretly helping each other's camps improve behind each other's backs. I hope you enjoyed it!
> 
> Thank you nim-lock for beta'ing!


End file.
